Special Bank Offer - Do the calculations

[nivram4491]

I received a special offer from my Australian bank for free international transfers. Very convenient considering my visa extension is due shortly. The offer is shown below. I removed the bank's name with Photoshop.

And the catch is?

Always read the fine print! *Excluding AUD currency

The Australian bank exchange rate at that time was 26.86 Baht per AUD. My Thai bank's rate at the same time was 28.60 Baht per AUD. The difference is 1.74 Baht per dollar. The normal international transfer is $22 AUD for this particular bank or around 630 Baht. This means that any transferred amount above $360 AUD will cost more using the special offer. How many people do an international money transfer for less than $360 AUD or 10,000 Baht?

Also they design their International Transfer Web page in such a way that transferring in Thai Baht is the default. Some effort is required to change the money sent to AUD. It is very easy to get trapped unless you are wary.

Always do the currency conversion in Thailand rather than overseas.

[Thighlander]

what would Aeon give you?

[nivram4491]

The maximum daily amount for Aeon is 20,000 Baht and unless you are lucky there is usually a fee at the international end (Australia in my case). So AEON is not convenient for larger amounts. For 20,000 Baht Aeon is very good, with fair exchange rates but my Australian bank charges $4 AUD per transfer.

[vagabond48]

The maximum daily amount for Aeon is 20,000 Baht and unless you are lucky there is usually a fee at the international end (Australia in my case). So AEON is not convenient for larger amounts. For 20,000 Baht Aeon is very good, with fair exchange rates but my Australian bank charges $4 AUD per transfer.

I am not 100% sure but I believe each withdrawal transaction is limited to 20K so if your ATM card bank allows for example, a "daily" withdrawal of 32K ($1000US), you could make another withdrawal for 12K. I have 3 USA DCs and can withdraw $2500 daily if I need to. All are fee free and without any foreign exchange fee. I also have a DC from my brokerage firm and I was told that with a phone call and approval, the daily withdrawal amount can be raised significantly if the funds are available.

Edited January 29, 2014 by vagabond48

[Jose]

Most overseas-based banks offer pathetic BHT-xxx foreign exchange spreads (the difference between a currency's buy/sell price). No "special offers" can ever compensate for this scam.

Considering that currency spreads in the interbank fx markets are often between 0.01~0.05%, anything above 1.00% (20x market) should be considered outright theft.

In your case, the Oz bank was offering you a spread of about 8.00% (160x). I've seen desperate Spanish banks offering to make the transferer 14.00% (280x) poorer.

[Thighlander]

The maximum daily amount for Aeon is 20,000 Baht and unless you are lucky there is usually a fee at the international end (Australia in my case). So AEON is not convenient for larger amounts. For 20,000 Baht Aeon is very good, with fair exchange rates but my Australian bank charges $4 AUD per transfer.

I am not 100% sure but I believe each withdrawal transaction is limited to 20K so if your ATM card bank allows for example, a "daily" withdrawal of 32K ($1000US), you could make another withdrawal for 12K. I have 3 USA DCs and can withdraw $2500 daily if I need to. All are fee free and without any foreign exchange fee. I also have a DC from my brokerage firm and I was told that with a phone call and approval, the daily withdrawal amount can be raised significantly if the funds are available.

you're still getting less than the tt rate.

[Jose]

In your case, the Oz bank was offering you a spread of about 8.00% (160x). I've seen desperate Spanish banks offering to make the transferer 14.00% (280x) poorer.

Correction (quoted buy ~ mid-price spread above):

In your case, the Oz bank was offering you a buy-sell spread of about 16.00%. I've seen up to 28% spreads with some Spanish banks.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Jose

[Saan]

In your case, the Oz bank was offering you a spread of about 8.00% (160x). I've seen desperate Spanish banks offering to make the transferer 14.00% (280x) poorer.

Correction (quoted buy ~ mid-price spread above):

In your case, the Oz bank was offering you a buy-sell spread of about 16.00%. I've seen up to 28% spreads with some Spanish banks.

Sounds like my NAB account. They never miss a trick to sting you for some fee or other- same as the rest.

Aeon, I think, will let you draw 50,000 baht but NAB will only allow you to withdraw about $1000. So if you need anymore than $1000 you pay double the fees.

[northernjohn]

The maximum daily amount for Aeon is 20,000 Baht and unless you are lucky there is usually a fee at the international end (Australia in my case). So AEON is not convenient for larger amounts. For 20,000 Baht Aeon is very good, with fair exchange rates but my Australian bank charges $4 AUD per transfer.

My Canadian bank charges $5 Canadian but AEON will allow you to make two withdrawals a day on the one card. In theory if I wanted to I could withdraw 120,000 baht with the one card as it is hooked into three different accounts. 40,000 baht on each.